8 Months Old (or "mom fails to blog for 5 months")

This is proof that your mom is a slacker.  The last post here was the 3-month recap?  Ouch.  I blame Tumblr.  I HAVE been diligent about keeping that up-to-date with pictures on a weekly basis...so I'm not a total failure ;)

Let's see.  SO much has changed!

At 3 months I think you were still spending most of your time on your favorite toy...the mobile gym.  You would spend a good 30 minutes touching all the colorful, dangling figures above you.  You were motivated to roll over from back to front and then front to back. 

You went from sleeping 9pm-6am to 7am and since 4 months you have been sleeping 8pm-7am...we even managed to keep this up during the time change, although you were VERY grumpy the week before when we kept forcing you to stay awake later and later.

We got you on a great schedule around 3 months...wake, eat, play, nap, repeat every 3 hours.  You are still taking 4 naps per day, but SOME days you can go without that last one.  You have evolved from four 45-min naps to three 1-hr naps and one 1.5-2hr nap, which tends to be around mid-day.  You still sleep on your belly with your butt in the air, but sometimes I have caught you snoozing on your side and once *gasp* on your back.

We started solids right at 4 months.  You did NOT like the oatmeal cereal on its own (who could blame you!), but you took to everything else immediately.  Your first food was pureed yellow squash...then avocado...then sweet potatoes.  You LOVE frozen bananas.  You have also had carrots, peas, green beans and apples.

At 6 months we started letting you try feeding yourself with puffs.  You seem to favor your left hand for eating and are getting better and better all the time.  We've started giving you bits of whatever we're eating at dinner.  You do tend to stare longingly at our plates, even if you've just eaten.  I made you scrambled eggs the other night for the first time and boy did you gobble them right up!

You're getting better with your sippy cups of water, too.  We have been rotating three of them and you don't seem to have a preference, though you can't seem to figure out how to work the fourth one that has a straw.  We'll revisit it some other day.

You have certainly had your share of illness since daycare started.  I think you are just getting over cold #5.  You have had two ear infections...I wouldn't have known as you never complained, but the Dr. could tell.  You have had plenty of shots and your mom is terrible because she laughs when you make such an angry face once you feel the sting of the injection.  You are really the cutest even when upset.

You are growing like crazy.  At 6 months you weighed 19.5 lbs....at 8 months you weigh 21!  I thought this was huge, but really it's more like 60th percentile.  I am so anxious for your 9 month checkup.  I am always so proud sitting with you in the waiting room and I love how you charm all the nurses and the doctor.

What else...some milestones should be noted I suppose.  You started laughing right at 4 months.  It is THE best sound in the world.  Your giggle box has only continued to grow and your father and I love finding new ways to send you into hysterics.  You love when Dad tickles you...your armpits are particularly sensitive.  You also love when we cover you with a blanket and whisk it away moments later.  You love to be sung to and you love books even though you tend to get antsy for us to turn the page.

You have been exposed to TV some.  Your last feeding tends to coincide with Wheel Of Fortune and OMG you LOVE it!  You love letters and graphics.  You are enthralled when the 7-day forecast pops up during the news and you giggle anytime the screen goes black.

You started grabbing your feet at 4 months.

At 5 months you learned how to bounce in your jumperoo.  I caught you sleeping in it once and was shocked since you seem to only sleep in your crib.

Halloween coincided with hitting 6 months and we had so much fun.  We took you to a pumpkin patch...before we carved a face into our jackolantern we put YOU in it and you had a blast while I took 100 pictures.  We dressed you up as a little skeleton later.  The cutest skeleton ever I do believe ;)

6 months was a big month...you learned to sit all on your own!  It also marked your very first tooth!  And then the second came in 2 weeks later, though we have yet to see a third.  This is also when mom and dad finally got brave enough to take you out to a restaurant.  It may have been 4pm as we didn't want it to be crowded.  It was funny because the only other people there at the time were other couples with babies, but you did great!  You did seem a bit bored so we had to take turns holding you, but it was good overall...though we haven't done it again since haha.  We also took you to the grocery store...ooh you really liked that!  So much to see!

7 months hit around Thanksgiving and you began commando crawling!  I couldn't believe it.  Here I thought I had so much more time before we needed to start babyproofing...not so much! You are not afraid to move around so we got a baby jail for you right away.  Of course, you'd rather go for our entertainment center, remotes and houseplants than your toys.  Silly boy.

You also started babbling at 7 months.  Lots of bababababa, but one day you shocked me by saying "ma ma," too bad it wasn't meant explicitly for me...I'll be patient ;)  I LOVE hearing you babble...unfortunately most of it is when you are a) tired or b) when you have something in your mouth.


Christmas came and you hit 8 months a week later.  Pretty sure you got all the toys you should need for a WHILE.  Trying to keep you unspoiled will surely be a challenge.  You got some clothes, but can always use more considering you are quickly outgrowing all your 9-month threads.  You have started enjoying standing on us or at the coffee table, but you are far from being able to balance on your own.

Some little things that make you you...you are one squirmy kid.  When we carry you...ok when we TRY to carry you you are always trying to face forward...sometimes you whip around so quickly that you have hit me in the face on more than a couple occasions and OUCH!

You went through a phase where you would blow raspberries WHILE we were feeding you...so glad that only lasted a couple weeks.  I prefer you EAT the carrots than make me wear them ;)

You haven't wanted a pacifier since 3 months.  We do give it to you sometimes since it makes you laugh and you like to put the whole thing in your mouth.  You use it pretty much every way other than the way it was intended.  Such a rebel.

So far you still love everyone you meet and charm the pants off them, though you definitely know who mommy and daddy are.  When we come to get you from daycare you have the BIGGEST grin on your face and your limbs start flailing about with excitement.  Makes us feel so blessed and special that you are ours.

The flipside of this is that we fear separation anxiety is just around the corner.  When we put you in your crib to nap or to go night-night you have started pulling the bumper down and looking fretful.  We just leave the room and luckily you still settle yourself.

Though we haven't established a bedtime routine your body seems locked into a serious circadian rhythm.  You get your last bottle around 7:45...we change you around 8...put on your sleep sack...I say "time for night-night" on our way to your room and you are out until 7.  I can't thank you enough for this...you have spoiled us for sure in this regard.

OMG you LOVE bathtime.  It's the first thing we do when I get you home from daycare, "gonna wash that daycare outta your hair!" ♫  We get the actual washing bit over pretty quickly, but then I let you play with some toys and you go CRAZY splashing.  I could probably let you bathe in the tub alone, but you still seem to enjoy your inflatable ducky tub. 

You know your name and you seem to be able to tell from the way we say it if you're doing something good or bad ;)

If there is something you can see and is within your reach you want it and you want it now.

Right at 8 months you learned how to rock on your hands and knees and have started incorporating that kind of crawling though you still prefer commando at the moment, but we know it's only a matter of time before you are fast!  Not ready!

You have gotten so coordinated with your hands!  You have a toy I call the "magic bean machine" and you have learned how to take the beans and drop them in the curly-slide part and you are so delighted when it makes its way down so you can do it all over again.

Banging two objects together rhythmically is another activity you love.  I can already see you begging for a drum kit one day.

So here we are...8 months has flown by!  I cannot believe you'll be a whole year old in 4 months.  It boggles my mind to think I wasn't yet 5 months pregnant this time last year?!  Just amazing.  I can't make any promises, but I HOPE I will be better about updating here.

3 Months Old

Today you are three months old.  How did that happen???  You are a quarter of the way through your first year of life and already been through so much.

And yet I can still remember this day oh so well...

At just 5 weeks old you had to go through surgery for an inguinal hernia.  You were such a trooper even if your mom cried buckets when they took you away.  You turned into such a happier baby from that moment forward.

You have grown so much.  I checked you yesterday and you are up to 13.5 lbs from your 8 lb, 1 oz birth weight.  You do love to eat!  Whereas we used to burp you once every ounce, now we only dare try once halfway through and even then you act like we are the cruelest people in the world.

You didn't love bath time at first, but now you love it!

Since around 10 weeks you have been sleeping from 9pm-6am...and that has increased to 7am in the last few weeks!  We certainly can't complain about that.  Your daddy actually gives you your last bottle and puts you down for the night.  He does it so well, I'm scared to do your last feeding myself.  But I always get you in the mornings and you have the biggest grin on your face for me.  It makes my insides melt.

A couple of mornings recently you have woken yourself up by rolling from your tummy to your back.  You have never liked sleeping on your back so I can understand why you don't get back to sleep.  Now if you can just roll over during the day when I can see you vs. finding you all cute in your crib.

Speaking of crib, you've been sleeping in yours in your own room since your second week home!  I was amazed that you took to it so well.  We were so proud of you.

You have recently started "talking" more and more and when you squeal with delight it lights up the world around you.  You still love your mobile gym and recently "discovered" the many toys that have been surrounding you forever.  You are looking at and eating your hands and it is one of the cutest things ever.

You had your first beach vacation with daddy's family at Emerald Isle and had your toes dipped in the ocean and guess what?  You loved it!

You spent many nights with mommy's family, too, and it was G-Ma Adams who stayed with us for the first 7 weeks of your life.  Without her, your mommy might have lost her mind ;)

We had a wonderful 12 weeks together at home and vacationing, but then mommy had to return to work and had a time with it having you in daycare three days a week, but you did great and remarkably, so did mommy!  I think it helps that I can be with you at home on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I love my time with my little man!

I cannot wait to see what's in store for us in your fourth month! 

Birth Story and The First 12 Weeks

It's only taken 3 months to put this out there...

Sunday, April 29

I wake up around midnight with what feels like mild, period-like cramping.  I go to the bathroom...I also have diarrhea (yes, you have to get all the gory details)...and I go back to bed.  I wake up around 1 a.m. and the cramping is a teensy bit more, but not crazy...I go back to sleep.  I wake up at 2 a.m. and notice that not only is the cramping getting worse, it seems like it's only maybe 5 minutes apart.

I call the OB number as instructed and leave a message and await callback from whoever is on call.  The Dr calls back within minutes.  He says, "yep...time to come in" so I wake Ryan.  We are in the car by 3 a.m.

We get checked into the hospital and I make it to the bathroom JUST in time for my water to break.  It was totally like peeing, but having NO control over it.  Still having diarrhea also...lovely.

They get me to a temporary bay area, changed and hooked up to monitors.  They check and I'm at 3cm.  They have to test to make sure that yes, that was amniotic fluid.  By now the contractions are getting much more intense and are only like 2 minutes apart.  They get me moved to my Labor and Delivery room.

Since I tested positive for Group B Strep, they have to hook me up to IV antibiotics.  I have to go through two bags before they want me to start delivering.  At this point the contractions are getting out of control and I'm getting virtually NO break in between.  They were coming 1 minute apart and felt like knives ripping my insides apart.  I was actually whimpering.  Ryan was a bit freaked out by the sounds I'm making.

I keep asking when can I PLEASE have the epidural???  I can't remember why they kept putting it off...but I know that it was probably around 5 a.m. that the guy came in to administer.  It was such a strange feeling...felt like electric shocks down one leg?  But nothing painful really.  After that I just waited probably 15 minutes and then the relief kicked in.  Sweet, blissful relief...ahhhhh.  I felt so much better that all of a sudden felt super relaxed and wanted to go to sleep haha.

The Dr came in and checked me out and said to just try to relax.  Ryan and I just chilled and after an hour the Dr came back in and said that I had gone from 3cm to 10cm!  He said that was kinda crazy.  He said I was almost ready to begin pushing, but we were still having to wait for the stupid antibiotics to be in my system.  So we just wait...and wait.

Finally around 8 a.m. they give me the go ahead to start pushing.  So it's just me, Ryan and the RN.  She's great though and coaches me well considering I can't feel what I'm doing like at all.  So while I'm not feeling ANYthing...the act of pushing is really exhausting.  I pushed like 3 times then would rest...then they could see on the machine when another contraction was coming so I would push 3 more times and then rest...etc.

This went on for 2 hours.  At this point the Dr comes in and tells me that if things don't progress further in a decent amount of time, we may need to do vacuum-assist, forceps or a c-section.  He said that baby's shoulder seemed to be at a non-ideal angle.  So this had me determined more than ever to make every push count. So those last 30 minutes I gave it my all.

He finally crowned and the Dr came in and tried to coach me on my pushing.  All I know is that he told me to push...then quickly said, "ok stop, stop, STOP!" but it was too late.  I had just had a third degree tear, but Nolan was here at 10:37 a.m.!


They took him away to clean him up and do all the usual checks.  Ryan had to hold him while the Dr spent over an hour repairing me.  He said had I not had such a wonderful epidural, he'd have had to have taken me straight to the OR because the damage was so great.  I lost a little over a liter of blood, but sitting there while he worked on me, I felt fine.

But then they sat me upright and my whole world faded.

It was so scary...I remember looking at Ryan and then my vision going tunnel-like and gray...and then black as my hearing also faded out.  I honestly thought I was dying.  I have never passed out in my life.  As soon as they laid me back down I came back, but I was terrified.

They wheeled me to my postpartum room.  As soon as I'm in there, they let the immediate family in.  I remember I'm just STARVING...keep in mind it's almost 1 p.m. and I hadn't eaten since maybe 6 p.m. the night before.  I remember seeing all my family and watching them all look at Nolan and pass him around.

And then they tried to sit me upright again...once again the world starts fading away and I yell for them to put me back down.  I hear a nurse say that my blood pressure is 79/54 o_0.  Apparently I was "this close" to needing a transfusion, but they really only do those if ABSOLUTELY necessary.  Apparently I look scary to everyone...my family is so freaked by my pale appearance that they insist on leaving and try to get Ryan's family to do the same...they feel as if I need to rest and looking back I think they were right.  I remember finally getting some food and Ryan had to feed me lying down.

At this point I can't yet feel anything to do with my tear and luckily I have no need to go to the bathroom for quite a while.  But later that evening I do and the nurses have to help me...I almost pass out every single time they set me upright.  And on top of that, all the feeling is coming back and it's just horrible.

I also haven't slept at all during any of my time since I checked in...every time I am finally left alone, I try to get to sleep, but then a machine in my room beeps, or the IV has an issue, or the blood pressure cuff goes super-tight and wakes me.  And if I do drift off momentarily through all of that, they bring Nolan back from the nursery to try to nurse, which is a total disaster in itself.

So this goes on for the 2 nights I am there.  Completely exhausted, in so much pain and feeling like a huge failure to Nolan who is so obviously starving that they have to ask me if they can give him some formula.  He is jaundiced :(

It was just such a stressful time.  Not at all what I had expected.  Thank GOD my mom was able to stay with us from the beginning because I couldn't do much of anything with my tear and blood loss.  It was all I could do to hold Nolan and try to breastfeed.  My milk didn't come in until the fifth day and the Dr was concerned about Nolan's health.  He had lost quite a bit of weight so we had to supplement.  I was pumping and pumping all the time, but never got more than 5 oz total from both breasts.  We gave it a solid 3 weeks, but that's all I could do.

The first three weeks of his life were hard...omg were they hard.  He wouldn't sleep more than an hour and a half at the most...ever.  Around 4 weeks I was changing him and noticed an olive-sized lump in his groin above his penis.  I knew that Ryan, his dad and his brother had all had inguinal hernias as children...but more like after 6 months of age.  Sure enough this is what Nolan has.

Poor little guy has surgery at just over 5 weeks of age.  That was so hard...to hand him over knowing he'll have to be put under at such a young age.  But he made it through and that completely changed how he slept, ate and felt overall.  Was so nice to have him nap for more than 25 minutes at the time.

By 6 weeks things were really getting good.  I had figured out a great routine that was pretty much on a 3-hour cycle.  Wake, change, feed, play, nap, repeat.  In doing this, I was getting 1-hour naps during the day and he was sleeping 5 hours a night with only one feeding.  By 8 weeks he was consistently sleeping 6 hours at night...by 10 weeks 8 hours at night with two, 2-hr+ naps and now he's going around 10 hours at night with at least two, 2-hour naps during the day.

I never used to believe it when people would say "it gets better"...but now I know it CAN happen haha.

Things he loves:
Mobile gym - omg his favorite thing ever!  He'll spend 30 min on this easily
Bumbo - he just recently can sit in this and is good for right after he eats
Eating
Cooing and laughing

Things he does not love:
The swing??  Of course the most $$$ thing we have for him he's not big on..I've gotten him to like it for like 10 min at the time haha
The bouncer??  He likes it more now than he used to, but still not much

What else...um...I know I'm forgetting things here and there...but I would say we're doing good!  I just started back to work, but with reduced hours.  I now work 30 hours...3 days are in the office so Nolan is in daycare on Monday, Wednesday and Friday...then I work a few hours from home on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I'm so fortunate to be able to do this...but also still mad jealous of women in the UK and Canada who get crazy maternity leave.  And REALLY jealous of those fortunate enough to be able to be stay-at-home moms.  Best job in the world I think!

I'm alive!

Hi all...sorry I've been so MIA...this first week has been a rough one.

I'm not gonna type out the birth story yet, but basically...epidurals are awesome, but a third degree tear is NOT.  I lost a good liter of blood and it took them an hour to put me back together :(  The tear is healing well apparently, but getting my energy back from the blood loss has been a struggle.  The first night home I tried to do to much and didn't wake mom to get help and I had a mini-breakdown both physically and emotionally.  But I'm better each day and he really is a cutie. 

Ryan is still adjusting too.  He's doing really well I think, but right now he says he only likes him when he's sleeping ;)  I think that's a pretty normal sentiment.

My milk JUST came in today so we've been having to do formula in the meantime.  I just tried out my breast pump...WEIRD!  But I did manage to get some.  This is all soooooooooo alien to me, but I'm going with it.  Nothing like having your mom help you shove your nipple into your baby's mouth while your husband helps hold his little arms still ;)  So long modesty!

That's all I got for now, but will try to be better about communicating in the future...just might be really scarce for a bit longer ;)  Love you all! 

How is everyone else doing??
Mandy

39 weeks 6 Days

Ok so...Ryan and I were all excited about our ultrasound today.  We get to the waiting room and the ultrasound tech comes over to us.  She says that the girl who scheduled this appt for me last week wasn't paying attention.  Insurance won't cover the ultrasound or NST monitoring until AFTER my due date, which would mean Friday.  She explains she is sorry and that I'll still meet with the Dr for the cervix check and measuring.  I'm just so so disappointed.  I tell Ryan he can go back to work.

I see the Dr and she apologizes for the mixup.  She says she will still check me and offers to strip my membranes as it can sometimes speed things up (said can trigger labor within 48 hrs?).  I say sure.  She checks and I've not made any further progress.  Still 3cm and 70% effaced.  She strips my membranes, which is only slightly more uncomfy than the check itself. 

So now I'm home and grumpy and spotting like whoa.  No cramping or contractions yet that I'm aware of.  Baby still measuring "normal"...she estimated he'll be under 8 lbs or just over.  Now the next available u/s and NST appt is Monday at 2pm.  Maybe I'll go into labor before then.  They did go ahead and put me on the schedule to be induced next Thursday if he hasn't yet arrived. 

I'm just so disappointed...but I'm hormonal and I know I'll get over it.  Just such a letdown.

39 weeks 4 days (TMI)

So over the weekend I had some TMI events...I spotted most of the day Friday after the OB appt...nothing unusual.

Saturday morning I noticed some brownish mucus so I assumed it was my mucus plug. Ryan had gotten up WAY early to go to Record Store Day so I texted him that I had lost it. His reply was too funny...I just imagined him standing in line and reacting. He kills me!


Anyway, Sunday morning was the REAL mucus plug...a brownish mass at the bottom of the toilet. Gross, but ok whatever.

Then this morning after peeing I noticed a rather sizable reddish brown streaky mucus mass on the TP...after googling I realize this is the "bloody show," which is way more indicative that things are about to start happening.

So here I sit today at my desk...highly unmotivated to work. Haven't had any menstrual-like cramping or BH contractions that I'm aware of since Tuesday, but I do think we will be meeting BB before the weekend perhaps! My brother is back stateside around 10:30am tomorrow when I'm supposed to pick him up from the airport. Crazy times!

Next OB appt is Wednesday at 1:20pm. Kinda hoping I go into labor then and there since we'll be right at the hospital ;)

39 weeks 1 day

Baby
-measuring normal
-still head down
-heart rate 140bpm

Me
-3cm dilated and still 70% effaced.
-If he hasn't yet arrived by then, the next appt is Wednesday at 1:20 where they'll do an ultrasound to make sure all is well. If he is showing any signs of stress or whatnot, they move up induction, but for now he won't be induced until May 3 if he hasn't shown up by then.

New stuff
-Had my first, definitive Braxton Hicks contractions the past two nights. No pain, just definite tightening of entire abdomen for a few minutes at the time.
-Also had more intense, menstrual-like cramps down low earlier in the week. Nothing since.